Toxic
by Keys Studio
Summary: AU, Humanstuck. Karkat is moving in with his old friend, Sollux. Follow Karkat as he learns to live with nightmares, the heat of summer, no air conditioning in his room, and Sollux. Yaoi, Solkat, language, ect.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Homestuck, Andrew Hussie does~!**

**[xXx]**

I looked around the small living room that I had just entered into, unsure of what to think about it through the groggy haze I was still in. It was small, as previously stated, a single couch, the only piece of furniture in the room, pushed up against the scarlet painted wall. The curtains that covered the windows were bumble bee yellow, drawn closed to keep out the gazes of nosy neighbors and passersby. The carpet was a plain shade of blue, I noticed. The room had been done up with Three Dimensional colors. Just like my new room mate's, old friend's, heterochromatic eyes. Thinking of him, my candy red gaze flickered over to look at him. I watched as he removed his mix matched shoes, trying to think of something to say after the long drive here.

"So, um..." I started, not quite sure where that sentence was going to go. However, it drew the male's attention over to me, encouraging me to continue. Well, here goes nothing. "Where the fucking Hell is my bedroom?"

The male chuckled at me, pointing up at the ceiling. "Upth'air'th, firth't room on the left," he informed me.

"I'm not seeing any stairs, fuckass."

Rolling his duel colored eyes, he walked over to the small area beside the front door, pulling open the door that was there. When I looked, I saw skinny, tall, wooden steps. "Upth'air'th, for future referenth'e."

"I fucking get that," I huffed, picking up my computer bag and suitcase.

Sollux scoffed slightly at me, moving out of my way. "I have to uth'e the bathroom. Don't mi'th me too much, KK," he teased, going down the hallway just on the opposite end of the wall. I heard a door open and close as I ascended the steps carefully. My feet were bigger than the steps, so they were harder to climb. I had a feeling the steps were going to be even harder to descend.

Finding the door behind a few boxes, I opened it, peering inside into my new room.

The first thing that hit me was that it was _hot as fucking Hell_ in there. There was no fan and no air conditioning in this room! The next that hit me was that the room was messy, like someone had been living in it before I showed up; there were empty water bottles and pizza boxes and McDonald's wrappers here and there on the floor, and the sheets had been piled up on the bed. The small entertainment center was no better; it was covered in small bits of trash and random objects, along with a television and an Xbox 360 with a few games along with it. Like most of the 'upstairs', there were boxes in this room.

"Th'orry about the me'th, KK," Sollux's voice said behind me, effectively scaring the shit out of me. I had not heard him come up the stairs at all. Silent, hovering bastard...! "We'll clean up tomorrow. It'th three in the morning and, I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend until five trying to clean up..."

_Just tell me where the fucking trash bags are and I'll clean it up, then, fuckass_, I thought sarcastically to myself with a slight eye roll of my own. "It's fine," I grumbled loud enough for him to hear. I found a relatively clean spot on the floor and sat my stuff down. The floor, I noticed, was the same honey yellow as the curtains downstairs. The walls, when I looked up, were white with a shit ton of bumble bees drawn onto their surfaces in crayon. It looked like a room for a five year old. "Whose room was this, originally?"

"My older brother'th," shrugged Sollux, fixing the sheets on my bed. "He deth'ided to move in with hi'th friend, Kurlo'th, lath't week and I haven't gotten around to cleaning up the room th'ince he moved out yeth'erday."

"He moved out yesterday?" I asked him, looking over at him in shock.

"Yeah," the male nodded, bending over to pick up some trash. "Well, the day before _yeth'erday_, if you want to get technical about it. That'th why I didn't anth'wer you about _when_ you could move in until lath't night. A'th in the night before lath't night."

I stared for a few minutes, unsure of how to take that. I decided not to ask anymore questions on the matter and shrugged, turning back to my bags. "I'm going back downstairs to grab my pillows and blanket," I told him, standing and stretching my body out. I walked out of the room, pushing past the boxes that were _still_ in front of my door, hesitantly beginning my descent downstairs. I practically hugged the wall when I could, not wanting to fall and bust my ass. Once on the last step, I relaxed, yelling up the stairs, "Made it!" Receiving no response other than a muffled laugh, I huffed, going outside to the car to grab my two pillows and my queen sized blanket from the backseat.

When I came back inside of the stairway, I once again began to carefully walk up the steps. I made it to my room, noting that the bed sheets were straightened out and that the trash that had been cluttering up the floor was shoved haphazardly into a small trash can off in the corner. I was throwing my pillows and blankets on the bed when the door across from my own opened. Glancing over, I saw Sollux with a fan in his arms. "That fucking fan better be for me," I warned him, eyeing the fan like a child would with a piece of candy. "It's as hot as my fucking asshole in here."

Sollux rolled his eyes at me, setting the fan down in my room, next to the door. "No, I wa'th juth't going to pitch it out of your window. _Ye'th_, it'th for you, ath'hat." I glared at him as he leaned down, plugging the fan in. The glare was lost the moment the fan came to life, beginning to blow cold air onto my now heated body. "Feel better now?"

"Fucking Hell yes, I am feeling better now," I told him, purposefully taking up as much space as I could in front of the fan. Sollux, having known me since third grade, merely shook his head at my childish act. It must have been a wonder when I didn't stick my face close to the spinning blades and just start talking, always having been fascinated with the distorted sound the combination created. Once I was chilled enough out of the heat, I jumped onto my bed. "You're right across the hall, right?"

"Yep," the blond male nodded, watching me with the smallest hint of an amused smile on his lips as I rolled around, maneuvering under the blanket that I had pulled over myself to strip myself of my sweater (which was making me feel hot as fuck) and my pants and socks along with it. I had tossed the dark gray sweater over to my bags, doing the same with the remnants of my clothing, leaving me in my boxers under the blanket, out of his sight. "I'll be right acro'th from you, all night. If you need anything, you can tekth't me or just call out for me." He moved to leave the room, but my voice stopped him.

"If the nightmare comes again, don't be surprised to see me in your bed in the morning."

He paused, probably to look back at me in surprise. I didn't see his gaze, though, because I had rolled over to face the wall, forcing my eyes closed. The nightmare that I was talking about was one that I had always had since seventh grade, shortly after my thirteenth birthday. The only person to ever know what was in that horrible nightmare was Sollux, himself.

I felt a shift in the mattress, a soothing hand placing itself over my bare shoulder. I flinched away slightly, only causing him to tighten his hold on me."You've been having the dream again, KK...?" his voice asked me calmly. It only took a single nod for a sigh to draw itself out of his mouth. "Why didn't you tell me lath't night...? The night before lath't. Fuck it. You know what I mean."

"I didn't want to worry you," I replied a little too quickly. I quickly shrugged off his hand from my shoulder. "I'm going to sleep now..." There was a moment of silence, me with my eyes closed and faked even breathing, before I felt the weight on the mattress shift, indicating that Sollux had gotten up and off of the bed. "Night, fuckass..." I grumbled out softly.

"Night, KK," he returned, turning the light out as he left the room. The door closed behind him, leaving me completely alone in my room, in the darkness, might I add. My hand touched my stomach slightly, the scar there smooth and gentle. It wasn't what gave me the scar that triggered any sort of flash backs. It was what _could have_ happened with the thing that triggered it. Before I could let my mind go into that, though, I shook the thoughts from my head. I didn't want to dream about it that night, let alone have to think about it. So I closed my eyes once more, hoping to drift off into a dreamless sleep. If I did dream that night, I didn't want to remember it in the slightest, in fear of that nightmare coming up again.

To help coax my mind out of the bad thoughts and nightmare triggers, I decided to think about the trip I had to take today to even get here. Three hours worth of driving, six for Sollux. One or two stops, once for gas and the other possibly for food, if I remembered right. The blond had been grumpy, like he had missed his medication again like he did a lot back in our sophomore year. I had passed out the first hour of the drive, fast asleep in the car seat. I had been asleep when he had come to get me, a little bit before midnight. Kankri, my older brother, took 'waking me up' as his 'privilege' as a responsible guardian, helping me get my shit out of the little apartment we had lived in. The reason why Sollux had been so late, the male himself informed me, was that his boss had put him on the morning shift that day and he got a bit of a late start. So, running on three hours of sleep, I was exhausted and I wanted to go back to bed.

With the memory of the car ride to fuel my thoughts, I fell into a pitch black slumber, no dreams to bother me and no nightmares to plague my mind.


	2. Chapter 2

A few days had passed since I moved in with Sollux. All that really happened between now and then was that I complained about it still being hot as Hell in my room, I stayed in Sollux's room most of the day (even when he went out to work at some pizza place) due to his room having an actual _air conditioner_, and I played on my computer, mainly just dicking around and playing random games. Today, though, I was hanging out with Mr. I-Have-To-Have-A-Fifty-Five-Inch-Flat-Screen-Plasma-Television-As-My-Main-Computer (no joke; it's on top of a long dresser in the corner of his room with his Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, computer monitor, and two loud speakers attatched to it), my laptop on my lap. Sollux was beside me, playing some game called Trickster Online on his computer. I think he's a Dragon? I dunno, I just know that he keeps cussing out the television every time he dies.

"Fuck thi'th queth't!" he growled out, clicking something on the screen furiously. "Th'econd job can wait a few god damn day'th!"

"Sollux, chill the fuck out," I snorted, rolling my eyes slightly at his aggitation. "It's just a fucking game."

"A fucking game. I know that'th what it i'th, KK! Which i'th e'kthactly why it i'th pi'thing me off!" Sollux snapped at me, logging out of his game. "I will be th'pending _day'th_ on collecting all of the galder that I need to get the damn check'th that I need to pay my in-game mentor, not to mention that I have to defeat the bo'th in the Caballa Relic'th Dungeon, fourth floor! I have fought that ath'hole before, and I died three time'th before I killed him! He ha'th a fucking buff that boo'tht'th hi'th attack known a'th an armor breaker! That fucking thing will fuck you up, KK! It will fuck you, up the a'th, with your own weapon, coated in poi'thon, held by Je'thu'th Chri'tht, then God, then Th'atan, then Chuck motherfucking Norri'th, until you are laying in the dirt with _no more_ Re'thurection Th'croll'th in your bag. I know becau'the I fucking _played_ thi'th before, KK. I played a Dragon class before. I became a Prie'tht, lath't time. I'm trying for Dark Lord, now."

I blinked in some surprise at his outburst. "Sollux, calm the fuck down, take your bipolar medication, and relax."

Sollux growled lowly at me, reaching down and grabbing his pill bottle. He quickly opened it, downing a single pill dry. He went back to his computer, turning on something on Netflix, probably to ignore my ass. Fine by me. He can be a mopey shitsponge for all I care. I went back to dicking around on my laptop, pretending not to care about being ignored. For a couple of hours, we were like this, both silent. Sollux had calmed the fuck down, finally, but he still didn't speak to me. Though I was glad to know that he wasn't ignoring me. I would bump my arm to get his attention and he would bump it back with his own arm, acknowledging that I was there.

"You want to watch a movie, KK?"

"What movie?"

"I dunno. I pretty much watched all of them, th'o..."

"Rom com."

"You have _got_ to be th'hitting me..."

"I was just suggesting it, fuckass."

"You _th'till_ watch tho'the th'hitty rom com'th?"

"Shut the fuck up and put one one."

"No way!"

"Well, you asked me if I wanted to watch a movie. I want to watch something romantic. Now, quit being a fucking dickface douchebag and _put on a romantic movie_."

"No. Fucking. Way."

"Damn it, Sollux!"

Sollux slapped me upside the head. "If you want to watch a romantic movie, ju'tht watch _The Titanic_. I know you have it downloaded onto your computer."

I glared, rubbing the back of my head in annoyance. "How the fucking Hell would you happen to know that?"

Sollux smirked at me. "I have my way'th."

I scoffed, closing my laptop and hugging it against my chest. "You're a fucking creep, you know that? Hacking into my computer and watching what I'm doing." When he raised an amused brow at me, I gave him a glare. "Yeah, that's right, you fuckass! I know that you've been going through my computer! I know because I have a self made virus that alerts me when a certain _bee loving Captor fuckass_ hacks into my god damn _laptop_. I just keep doing what I do cause I know that if I don't, you'll open up _all_ of my folders and my internet history."

"Wow, you're ob'thervant a'th ever, KK," the blond mused. "Maybe if you point out th'omething el'the that I didn't noti'the before, I _might_ con'thider putting on a th'appy a'th roman'the movie."

I smirked slightly at him. "You wear briefs," I said with the straightest face ever. His expression went from amused to embarrassed beyond all belief. To answer his unspoken question, I told him, "You left your underwear on the bathroom floor after your shower from earlier."

"_Damn it_!" Sollux exclaimed, covering his face in embarrassment.

"Now, about that romantic movie~?"

"Fuck. You. KK."

"I'll think about it~. But for now, I need a rom com. Now, get your ass on the search engine on Netflix and look up the good shit."

Grumbling to himself, the male began to begrudgingly search up some romance movies. There was a tie between _Blue is the Warmest Color_ and _Kiss of the Damned_. The former was about (and mind you, this is just based off of what I could gather from the mini summary) how a girl was looking for love with boys but she finds a girl that intrigues her. The latter was about (again, the mini summary) how an undead chick gives into her lust for some screen writer. I couldn't decide!

But of course, I did easily.

"_Blue is the Warmest Color_," I told Sollux. I caught him rolling his eyes, clicking on the title. He didn't have it start yet. "Start it, you fuckass."

"Not until we have th'nackage. We _cannot possibly_ watch a movie without th'nackage, ath'hat."

I groaned loudly, crossing my legs and setting my laptop aside. "You can't be serious. That requires us _moving_. That requires us _leaving the nice fucking air conditioner_."

"Come on, KK. You know you want th'ome popcorn and soda."

"...Fuck it, alright."

With the both of us getting up, we left the room and went downstairs. Once there, we both went into the kitchen. Sollux grabbed a bag of potato chips, barbeque flavored, and a Coke-a-Cola bottle from the fridge. I mean the old kind, too. The glass ones that were popular way back when. I, myself, grabbed a plastic bottle of Dr. Pepper from the fridge and the three pound bag of gummy bears I had bought yesterday when we had made a store run. Shortly thereafter, we went back upstairs. Granted, our snacks weren't popcorn, but that would be for another movie.

Once we were back in the bedroom (fucking Hell, I love that damn air conditioner), I laid down on the bed, setting my Dr. Pepper and bag of gummy bears to the side. Beside me, Sollux remained sitting up turn out the light that was on beside the bed and to click the movie on. Once it was on, though, he sat his food and drink aside as well, laying down. Our eyes were glued to the screen. I watched every minute of it that I could, not giving a rat's ass if it was in French (it had subtitles). Granted, I blushed furiously when I saw the chick begin to masturbate due to a wet dream about some blue haired chick she saw earlier the day before, but thankfully, being the best of hate friends, Sollux and I did one another a favor and covered each other's eyes. It didn't help with the sex scene not five, maybe ten minutes later?

Pausing the movie, Sollux looked at me. "You th'ure you don't want to juth't watch th'omething elth'e? I mean... I don't need a fucking awkward boner or thome th'hit, you know."

"I want to keep watching it," I declared, still blushing. "Just... if it gets to a sex scene, we'll turn the volume down and cover each other's eyes. Cause... neither one of us want to pop a boner with the other right beside us, right?"

Sollux shrugged. "I don't mind having a boner. Problem i'th i'th that I can't jerk it off if you're in here."

If I had been drinking my soda right then, I would have spat it out. "Okay. You know what? J-just throw on _Hercules_ or some kid movie. I don't want to see that..."

The blond smirked at me. "What? Afraid that I might be _bigger_ than you?"

"_Shut up_. End of conversation. Put on kid movie. _Now_."

"Oh, no way. I need to know thi'th, KK."

"Oh, _Hell no you don't_!"

"Th'ure I do! Come on, whip it out."

"_Sollux Captor, get your fucking hand off of my thigh_."

"Come on, I juth't want to compare."

"No! You know what? I'm going to go to bed now. Fuck you, and fuck your bone bulge!" When I moved to get off of the bed, the blond grabbed my wrist. I glared darkly at him. "Let go of me."

"I wa'th juth't kidding, Gog," Sollux scoffed, pulling me back on the bed. "I'll put on a kid movie. No dick comparing tonight."

"Or ever," I grumbled, scooting back to my place on the bed. I practically lived in here, I noted. Maybe Sollux wouldn't mind if I...? "Can I stay in here tonight, by the way? I'm getting sick of being too fucking hot in my room at night."

"Th'ure," shrugged the male, clicking out of the movie. He added it to his list to finish with me later. He then turned on some old cartoons, which were just as good, I supposed. "I don't mind. Th'o long a'th you don't mind that I like to cuddle."

"Keep it a steady sixty three degrees and I won't give a flying shit sponge if you cuddle my ass into next week," I snorted, relaxing into a good old fashioned episode of _Courage, The Cowardly Dog_. We both recited the beginning part, Sollux being the narrator, me being Hustus, and Sollux being Courage. We laughed together, grinning at one another before sitting up and downing a bit of our beverages. We then delved into our snackage, occasionally trading two gummy bears for a chip or the other way around. We were both content.

Eventually though, we both grew tired. I sat my half empty bottle of soda and half empty bag of candy beside the bed, next to Sollux's own soda and food. I stripped off my shirt, tossing it before I worked on shutting down my laptop (that I forgot that I had left on). Once it was shut down, I put it away in its bag, setting it in front of the end of the bed. I asked Sollux if he wouldn't mind grabbing my pillows and blanket from my room. He didn't care. He got them for me and tossed them at me. Once I was situated, I curled up happily in my blanket, actually enjoying the fact that I could actually do that again. Sollux took his pills and then took off his glasses. He peeled off his own shirt before turning off the light that had been on briefly. He curled up in the bed with me, pulling part of my blanket up so he could snuggle in with me. I didn't care. He was warm and I was comfy.

"KK?"

"What is it?"

"If you have the nightmare again-."

"Don't. I don't even want to think about it. If I have it, you'll be the first to know."

"Promith'e?"

"Yes, fuckass. Now, go to sleep before I make you fall asleep."

I tensed up slightly as he wrapped his arm around me protectively. "If you have the nightmare again, I'll wake you up and make you th'ome comfort food."

"...I'm holding you to that."

"Yeah, yeah. Night, KK."

"Night, fuckass..."

We fell asleep like that, with my back against his chest. He was warm, I thought lazily as I began to drift. He was warm... and he was comfortable... and he smelled really fucking good... Before I realized what that last thought was, I fell into a comfortable sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"KK..."

I groaned quietly, mumbling something incoherent in my sleep. I was warm and I was comfortable. There was no way in Hell that I was going to move. But something was shaking my shoulder, attempting to rouse me. Well, someone, as I later figured out, but at the time, he was a some_thing_ and I was about to punch him if I had not been so Hell bent on wanting to stay in bed and asleep.

"KK, come on. It'th time to wake up."

Fuck that shit. To prove my point, I pulled my blanket in tighter around me and curled up more, rolling over. I heard a sigh.

"Fine. I gue'th all of that deli'thiou'th bacon and French toa'tht will be _all_ mine..."

"Oh, like Hell, it will be," I grumbled, opening my eyes tiredly. I sat up slightly before falling back. It looked like getting up wasn't going to happen right off the bat. When I turned my head slightly, I could see Sollux chuckling at me, amused that food was the thing that got me to wake up some. I glared sleepily at him to which he responded with a small roll of his heterochromatic eyes. I guess I wasn't intimidating when I was half awake in only my pants and tangled up in my huge ass blanket. "You better be giving me half of the bacon you cook up and three pieces of French toast..."

"They're already finith'hed, a'th hat," the blond informed me, helping untangle me from my blanket. "I wa'th waiting on your th'leepy a'th."

"Fuckass, why didn't you get me up earlier?"

"Cau'the I wa'th hungry."

"Fine. For that, you get to carry me down the stairs into the kitchen."

"No way."

I reached out my arms, managing to wrap them around his neck. "You woke my ass up, asshole. You get to carry me to the kitchen."

Sollux scoffed before placing one arm around my shoulder and one under my knees. He then lifted me up. "Whatever. Juth't mean'th that you get to clean up afterward'th."

I fell silent, not responding to what he had said. Instead, I laid my head on his shoulder, yawning sleepily as my eyes fell closed. I knew I was being a pain in the ass, but I didn't want to move. However, I nearly screamed when I felt Sollux stumble, automatically thinking that we were going to both fall down the stairs and bust open our heads and _fucking die_. Instead, what came out was an alarmed squeak. Thankfully, we didn't fall down the stairs and the blond merely laughed at me for fearing the worst (to which I replied by biting into his shoulder), carrying me accident free into the kitchen where there was a plate already made for me by the male, sitting on the table. Sitting me down in the chair in front of my plate, I thanked him and began to eat happily. Everything was still warm, much to my pleasure.

As I ate my maple syrup covered French toast and my crispy yet still slightly chewy bacon, Sollux went over to the fridge, opening it. "What do you want to drink, KK?"

"Mmfk," I said around a mouthful of French toast.

"Milk?"

"Mmfk."

"I don't think we have any mmfk, KK, but we do have milk."

"Mmf fut mm fmmin."

"Mmf fut mm fmmin? I dunno if you did a bad 'that'th what th'he th'aid' joke or if you said, 'That's what I said'." Sollux was giving me an amused smirk. "In which ca'the, you're juth't a'th bad a'th th'he i'th!"

I swallowed with a small glare. "I want a glass of fucking milk, you blubbering asshole."

"Why didn't you juth't th'ay th'o, KK?"

I gave the male a haughty glare as he leaned down, grabbing the gallon of milk that was inside. He poured a glass of milk for me and gave it to me. Once I had it, I chugged down the white contents of the glass down until it was only half full. Sighing happily in relief, I wiped my upper lip of the milk mustache that I had formed. "Thanks, fuckass. You're actually useful," I smirked at him, picking up a piece of bacon. Munching on it, I noticed that he wasn't trying to give me a snappy comeback. Raising a slender brow at him, I asked around my food, "Mmt's grrng?" Noticing how my sentence sounded gargled and distorted, I swallowed my bite and repeated myself. "What's wrong?"

Sollux shook his head. "Nothing. Juth't thinking," he informed me. He sat down across from me and crossed his legs. "Anyway'th, th'in'the when have I never been u'theful? If I recall correctly…" He began to count on his fingers. "I helped you a th'hit ton in high th'chool, I'm letting you live here with me, I make you food, aaaaand I let you th'tay in my air conditioned room every day without complaint. And that, KK, i'th only the tip of the i'theberg." He gave me an even look with his heterochromatic eyes, an amused smirk tugging at his lips. "Top that, ath'hole."

I couldn't help the furious blush that covered my cheeks. Giving him a dirty look that could kill if it was possible, I continued to stuff my face with my breakfast without another word his way. Once I was done eating, I stood and walked over to the sink, rinsing my plate of all of the syrup that still lingered on its surface. The moment I turned around, I saw Sollux giving me a strange look. A look of... Longing? Or maybe it was just my still tired eyes playing a trick on me... I figured that that was the case because the moment I blinked, the look was gone. I raised a brow to myself before shaking my head. "What are you staring at?" I asked him.

Sollux gave me a startled look before smirking a little. "Oh, juth't you," he informed me. He stood and twisted, popping his back. "Lith'ten, I have to go to work today. I don't have enough money to th'end you over a pith'a, th'o you'll have to make due with what we have."

A groan escaped my lips. I absolutely hated having to stay home alone. Don't get me wrong. Being alone meant that I could watch whatever the Hell I wanted on his Netflix account and enjoy the wonderful air conditioner. But... I was seriously one paranoid asshole who wasn't used to more than three cars passing my home _per day_. Since I lived with Sollux, now, there were a lot more than three cars a day passing by the house. There was ten to twenty cars, and that alone made me a nervous wreck. I never showed it because I was usually never alone in the house. Sadly, however, whenever the blond had to go work, I became a serious worry wart, thinking that someone was breaking into the house and all that. Even if it had only been a few days, I still wasn't used to the traffic and whatnot what-so-ever. "Can't I just come with you?" I found myself asking him, much like a whiny little child who wanted a new game or a new toy. "I can bus tables or some shit."

"Th'orry, KK. I can't let you do that," frowned Sollux. "You know that I can't. I'll get in trouble."

I continued to whine a bit. "Please? Or at least call someone to come keep me some fucking company..."

"Well..." started the blond, trailing off as he instantly fell into thought. I waited as patiently as I could, crossing my arms cross my chest and resisting the urge to impatiently tap my foot. He shook his head slightly. "If you don't mind Mituna and Kurlo'th coming over. Gam'thee might be with them though, th'o I dunno..."

I felt my stomach clench a little bit at the thought of Gamzee possibly coming over. We had been the best of friends in high school up until our senior year. Then, after meeting a new kid (a German rebel named Caliborn, I believe), Gamzee stopped hanging out with me like he usually did. Our communication became less and less until, finally, he told me that we were no longer friends. His confession had bothered me greatly (and it still did), but I tried my best not to show it. Thinking it over, I sighed heavily. "I think that I'll be fine on my own..." I murmured a little in defeat. Anything to avoid that stoner that I once called my best fucking friend in the whole damn universe. Second to Sollux, of course. But still. The asshole...

Sollux walked over to me and wrapped his lanky ass arms around me, pulling me into a loose embrace. After a moment or so, I returned it. I could hear and feel the blond sigh heavily. Frowning a little, I tilted my head on his shoulder a little questioningly. He answered my unspoken question softly, "I don't want to leave you here alone, KK... I know that you don't like being home by yourth'elf..."

I gave the male a heavy sigh and pulled back a little bit. "Go get dressed for work, asshole," I told him. "I'll be fine... Just text me every now and again, okay?"

Sollux nodded a little, pulling away from me. "I don't have work for a couple more hour'th... Why don't we go upth'tair'th and play th'ome video game'th until then?" he offered me. "Like... I dunno... _Call of Duty_ or maybe we could take turns with _Th'aint'th Row the Third_ or _Th'kyrim_..." There was a look of hope in his different colored eyes, something that kind of bothered me. Why it did, I never knew. I just knew that it bothered the living Hell out of me.

"I'll watch you play _Skyrim_ while I curl up in my blanket beside you," I offered him softly. I wasn't that big into any of the games that he had listed off (I didn't care for shooting games so that crossed out _Call of Duty_ and I had never played _Saints Row the Third_ or _Skyrim_ before, so I would be completely lost as to what to do). I was more of the kind of person to just sit back and watch, really. So, with that in mind, the two of us (after cleaning up the kitchen) went upstairs and plopped down onto the blond's super fucking comfortable bed and waited as the television and PlayStation 3 started up. The moment the game was on and the controller was in Sollux's hands, we were both engulfed in the world of Nirn (as the blond had informed me in a very geekish manner during the loading screen).


	4. Chapter 4

I sighed heavily as I watched Sollux get into his car and leave for work. Now that he was gone, I was completely and utterly home alone. Granted, a lot of teenagers and kids would be thrilled to be home alone. That meant doing shit that would otherwise get them into some serious trouble, such as drinking and doing drugs. I, personally, was _fucking terrified_. I know that I mentioned it before, but I _do not_ like being home _alone_. After an accident that happened _years ago_, I became a bit more paranoid than normal. Granted, I had moved in with Kankri after the accident, but still. Being alone meant that nobody would come to save my ass should some crazy person break in and try to kill me. Yes, I had already been home alone while living with Sollux, and yes, those _were_ really the thoughts that I had every time he was gone.

Pacing the living room some, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Glancing around, I noticed with a slight cringe that the place needed some serious tidying up... So I knew then what I wanted to do. Cleaning this house would probably help take my mind off of things, I was sure... I found all of the cleaning stuff in the kitchen, that being a bucket, a mop, a broom, dust pan, soap, and trash bags. Nodding to myself, I decided I needed some music to go with this cleaning marathon. I ran up the narrow steps as best as I could and went into my room. Going through some of my bags, I found my iPod. Grinning slightly, I went back downstairs and unlocked my home screen. I quickly scrolled through my music until I found My Chemical Romance. Turning on 'Repeat Song', I tapped on 'Na Na Na'. As the beat pulsed through my speakers, I sat it on the nearby counter and started cleaning.

I started by sweeping the kitchen floor clean, bopping my head to the rythm. "Give me drugs, give me drugs..." I started to sing softly under my breath, my hips swaying side to side slightly as I swept. I grabbed the dust pan by the refrigerator and swept the dust and dirt inside of it. Emptying it into the trash can, I went on to fill the bucket with water. Once it was filled, I added some soap to it and mixed it in. I decided to mop the room after I cleaned the counters and table and sink after I washed the dishes. Slipping on some rubber gloves that I found under the kitchen sink, I practically dove head first into washing the mass amount of dishes that rested in the sink. Oh, Sollux was going to come home to a clean house, or I would eat my own romance novels!

[xXx]

I'm not sure how long it took me to clean the entire house. I lost track of how long it took me to clean each _room_, all of them having their own little sound track now. The kitchen was 'Na Na Na' by My Chemical Romance, the bathroom was 'This Love This Hate' by Hollywood Undead, the living room was 'Missing' by Evanescence, the unfinished office (that hid at the end of the hall, a door down from the bathroom) was 'American Idiot' by Greenday, my room was 'Blah Blah Blah' by Ke$ha, and Sollux's bedroom was 'Face Down' by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I changed clothes and basically said, "Fuck it," to the laundry. I had been doing loads of laundry periodically between all of my cleaning and there was only one more load left to go.

I was too sore to do that last load, though, so I decided to crash on the love seat and be a hog about it. Dressed in a black tanktop with the Cancer symbol in gray at its center and black shorts, I was done. I laid down horizontally on the love seat and closed my eyes, lazily pulling my phone from my pocket. Sollux was on his way home, which was good, because with the house clean now, I wouldn't have to eat my romance novels. Sighing, I sprawled myself out a bit. Oh, yeah. Sollux was going to happy, I was sure of it! The place was a mess to begin with, so now his lazy ass didn't have to clean it up.

Ten minutes after he had sent me the text message, I heard him pull in. Getting up, I groaned in some pain. Guess who was sore? This housewife, fucker. I unlocked the door and opened it for Sollux just as he cut the engine to his car. I watched as he got out and couldn't help but notice that he looked like he danced with a chicken. He looked so ragged and tired that I felt kind of bad for him. That made my cleaning the house all the better. It was always nice to return a clean house, I thought.

When he entered the house, he looked around with some surprise before his eyes landed on me. He then smirked some. "Did you clean the hou'the while I wa'th gone?" he asked me teasingly. Ugh! Not even a thank you? This asshole was going to get chewed out later! I would have done it right then and there, but I had to refrain in light of the fact that he looked exhausted.

"No shit, ass sponge," I growled. "The entire house is nice and clean. I spent the whole day cleaning it."

Sollux surprised me by giving me a brief hug. "Thank'th, KK... Really, I mean it," he murmured softly with that god awful lisp of his. I blushed slightly as I hesitantly returned his hug. It was kind of awkward, but... I kind of liked it. And hearing his praise was nice, too.

"Yeah, yeah... Why don't you go take a shower and I'll get you some clean clothes to wear?" I said softly, closing my scarlet eyes.

"Th'ound'th like a plan..." murmured Sollux, but it seemed that neither one of us were really willing to pull away from each other. That would have been fine, but we both reeked and we both needed a well deserved shower.

Pulling away after another moment, I watched as the blond slinked off to the bathroom. When I heard the door close, I sighed to myself. Okay, so he wasn't going to be chewed out later. He _did_ say thank you... which was enough for me. I went upstairs and grabbed him a black 'n' yellow striped short sleeve shirt that had the Gemini symbol stitched in the two colors over his heart; where the shirt was yellow, the stitching was black and vice versa. I then grabbed some blue jeans and a pair of black briefs. I still couldn't get over the fact that he wore _briefs_. I mean, come on. I wore _boxer_ briefs, but not full on _briefs_.

Walking back downstairs with clothes in hand, I opened the bathroom door and sat the clothes on the counter. I could see Sollux's silohuette on the shower curtains and blushed heavily. Clearing my throat some, I called over the running water, "I left your clothes on the counter, fuckass!"

"Thank you, KK!" Sollux called back. Before I could turn and make a hasty retreat, I heard the water cut off and the curtain was drawn back.

Saying that Sollux was big was an understatement.

I am _just saying_.

My face going bright, bright, _bright ass red_, I couldn't help but stare at the lanky, hot body in front of me.

That lanky, hot, _dripping wet_ body.

Sollux realized that I was in there still and blushed as well, covering himself with the curtain. "K-KK!"

"S-sorry!" I cried, scrambling as I left the bathroom. I have no idea why either one of us were embarrassed about what just happened. I mean, we're both guys. _That_ was obvious! But... Something about that just made us both blush crimson and for the rest of the day, neither one of us could really look one another in the eye. It was just too awkward! I had even made a point of sleeping in my room that night, not really caring now if the bedroom was too hot anymore. And that night was the night that was when my nightmare hit me at full force, regardless of the day's cleaning and awkwardness with Sollux.


	5. Chapter 5

I had been a little over thirteen when it happened.

Kankri had moved out of our home the year before, having completed high school with no problem along with a multitude of basic education in college courses online. He had only a year of courses left to get his degree in sociology and criminal justice by the time he graduated high school. To put it in short, my older brother had left home to finish his studies.

Our mother, a proud, beautiful woman, had passed three years prior due to cancer in her uterus. An ironic outcome when one takes into consideration the fact that both of her sons and her husband are cancers in the zodiac. I missed her with every fiber of my being, but I had learned to move on when it just became my father and me.

Our father was a working man, so I never really saw him much. He was an insomniac, something of which both Kankri and I inherited from him, so he worked two shifts in order to bring in a good amount of money. It was not new to be left at home alone.

No, what was new was hearing something crash downstairs while I was asleep.

I bolted upright in my bed, panic overriding my feeling of drowsiness. I asked myself what could have made that noise. We had no pets in our house, but from time to time, if my father decided that he didn't want to work night shift, he would come home late after his day shift with some McDonald's in tow. I figured that it was just him and he had stumbled. It seemed reasonable…

At least it seemed that way until I heard another loud crash downstairs. My instincts called for me to call for the police. When I reached for my phone, I realized with some horror that I had not charged it and it had died some time during the night. My only hope of calling for help was to risk leaving my room and going out into the hallways in order to get to the house phone. If there was one thing I was grateful for at the time, it was my father's need to keep a house phone in the house.

I hurried out of my bed as fast as I could while trying not to make any noise, my body running on nothing but adrenaline. I ran over to the door, pulling on a white tank top hurriedly. Pausing at the door, I listened to determine how close the danger was to me. Silence was the only thing that had greeted me. Swallowing nervously, I slowly opened the door, checking the hallway to make sure that the danger was not immediately in my vicinity.

Slipping out of my room, I hugged the wall, making my way as best as I could to the house phone at the other end of the hallway. I could hear footsteps coming up the stairs and knew instantly that time was of the essence. Walking as fast as possible without flat out running, I made my way to the house phone. Grabbing it off of the receiver, my fingers stumbled over each other to dial 911. My heart was beating out of my chest as I listened to the ringing of the phone. When it picked up, I quickly whispered, "My name is KarkatVantas, 413 Hive St. There is someone in my house who isn't supposed to be here, and he or she is coming up the stairs and I'm not safe!" I must have caught whoever was on the other end of the line off guard. They didn't answer me. When I looked up, all of the color drained from my face.

_He_ was holding up the severed phone cord in one hand, a knife poised at the ready in the other. How had I not heard him come up from behind me? Then it dawned on me. He had purposefully made noise to lure me out. Now, here I was, right where he wanted me. I fell for his trick, hook, line, and sinker. Before I had time to try and run, he grabbed me roughly by the hair and plunged his knife into my side. I hissed, clawing at his arm to get away, trying desperately to ignore the fact there was blood pooling up around my wound, staining the white fabric of my tank top. My instincts were on fight-or-flight mode, and, at the moment, I was going to fight.

In response to me fighting back, I felt the knife being pushed in deeper inside of my body, being twisted to further open the wound. Tears brimmed my eyes from the pain. I forced myself to lean up, biting at the flesh of my captor's arm. Somehow, I managed to get a hold of his arm with my teeth, and I took a risk by locking my jaw and sinking my teeth into his arm hard enough and with enough pressure to draw blood. Thankfully, he let go of me in favor of reacting to his alarm.

I ran, knife still lodged in my side. I heard cursing behind me, shortly followed by the sound of pounding feet against the floor. I drifted into the bathroom, fumbling as I slammed the door shut behind me. I locked the door a second before the intruder tried to open the door. A lump was lodged in my throat as I pressed all of my weight against the door. The knife still burned in my side, but I didn't remove it in fear of causing more blood to spill out. Once I heard the intruder leave the door alone after a few minutes, I slid down the door and swallowed shakily.

Checking under the sink, I looked for anything to help ease the blood flow, should I pull out the knife at that moment, but I found nothing. I knew that I couldn't leave the dagger inside of me, though, so I braced myself as I wrapped my fingers around the handle, my teeth clenched. Tightly shutting my eyes, I pulled.

The blade clattered to the floor as I quickly applied pressure to my open wound, my blood pooling out heavily over my palms and fingers, spilling over. It took every ounce of my dwindling willpower for me not to cry.

I had never been so afraid of anything in my life. It still haunted me to this day, even though my brother and father had helped me to try and cope with what had happened. The experience wouldn't have been as haunting as it had been if it wasn't for...

If it wasn't for the fact that the man, who I later learned was called Jack Noir, had never been arrested.

Jack Noir was still free.

It was the thought of not knowing where he was that fueled my nightmares, my fear of being home alone…

And Sollux knew it.

He knew because he had been there for me.

[xXx]

I woke up in a cold sweat, straining my ears to listen for noises that could have been out of place. Nothing seemed to be any different; I could hear the soft chirping sound of the smoke detector warning me that its battery was low, the gentle creak of the springs of my mattress under my shifting weight, and the dull white noise of the fan as it blew cool air onto my chilled flesh. Pulling my blanket close, I got up from my bed, my body shaking. I left my room and went across the hallway to Sollux's bedroom.

Opening the door, I slid inside and went over to the bed, closing the door behind me in the process. I slid into bed with Sollux, burying my face into his back. He didn't stir, but he did sigh. Damn it. Baring my teeth a little in mild, weak annoyance, I realized that he had been awake already.

"Couldn't th'leep, KK?" he asked me softly, tilting his head back some.

"The nightmare… It came back…" I whispered. I tensed as Sollux pulled away and rolled over, but I relaxed as he pulled me in close against his chest. I felt safe in his arms, as though nobody could hurt me as long as he was there…

"He will never hurt you again, KK. On the off chanth'e that he _doe'th_ find you again, I will protect you," he whispered to me in an effort to comfort me, running his fingers through my hair. His fingers paused. "I'm going to take the day off work tomorrow. I'th there anything in particular that you want to do?"

"Not really…" I whispered. "I just want to o back to sleep for a while… Can we talk about it in the morning…?" I didn't want to think at the moment. I just wanted to enjoy the sense of security that being in Sollux's arms brought me.

"Th'ure thing… Night, KK…"


	6. Chapter 6

Sollux had called in to work the following morning to let his boss know that he wasn't going to be going into work that day, promising to make up the hours that he was going to miss. Granted, it had been a bit more complicated than that, but what mattered was that the blond had managed to get the day off just to spend time with me. I couldn't help but feel guilty since he had done it for me, but he assured me that it was alright, that there were plenty of people going into work that day. "My pre'thenth'e wouldn't be mith'ed too much," he had told me when I said anything about it.

So the start of our day began. Neither of us wanted to really get up from his bed, but hunger was a thing that we needed to sate, so, relunctantly, we got up and out of bed. Sollux got dressed in a black 'n' yellow striped long sleeved shirt and blue jeans as I stole his large, black sweater and threw it on over my small frame, noticing how it engulfed my frail frame, the sleeves three inches longer than it should be and the bottom hem nearly reached my knees. I didn't bother grabbing pants. Unless we were going to go out, I wasn't going to bother. My plan was simply to relax with Sollux, after all.

Due to my continuing trouble with the stairs, Sollux took my hand and helped me down the stairs, not minding my slow pace at all. Once we were down the stairs and in the living room, we went rummaging through the kitchen for something to eat. All we found that didn't require us to actually cook was a box of sausage, egg 'n' biscuits that required a few minutes in the microwave and some fruit. We went for the microwavable food over the fruit, popping in the biscuits one at a time. Once we ate, we went into the living room and turned on the television, mindlessly watching _That 70's Show_, not really focusing on it.

I snuggled up against Sollux on the couch, my head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around my sweater clad body, the both of us relaxing with a full belly to each of us. The day wasn't unbearably hot, but rather, it was felt comfortable enough that I actually felt nice and cozy in Solluz's sweater. The thought of a long walk had crossed my mind, but I dismissed it due to the looming thunder clouds. I didn't want the two of us to be on a walk and rain suddenly come pouring down.

So we chose to relax on the couch together, thinking of what the two of us could do with our day together. We tossed ideas back and forth, going from card games to board games, so far. I was about to suggest drinking and maybe playing a video game, but I heard my phone go off before I could get two words out of my mouth. Frowning some to myself, I grabbed my phone from beside me. The name displayed both relieved and irritated me.

Answering, I grumbled out, "Yes, Kankri?" I was quick to pull the phone from my ear to avoid the usual sermon he gave me when I actually picked up the phone. Even though I was holding the phone an arm's length away, I could still hear his gog awful preaching about how I never called or normally answered my phone and about how I put him in a constant of worry over me because of how little I talked to him. He did this _every fucking time_ he called during his college years, or to be more accurate, since he moved out of our childhood home. He stopped when I had moved in with him for my own college years (best four years of my gog damn life, I swear). This was the first time he had called me since I moved in with Sollux.

The sound of his voice was welcome, but damn it, did he have a fucking _mute button_? If he did, I had yet to find it, and I highly doubted that I ever would find it.

After a moment of hearing him bitch and moan (as I occassionally called it), I returned the phone to my ear and growled out, "Okay, okay, I get it. You're my big brother and you worry too damn much, so you flip your shit when I don't answer my phone or bother to answer any text message you send me, blah, blah, _fuckity blah_. Can you shut your mouth now and explain the exact reason why you called me? And don't give me that, 'As your older brother, I have the right to use the priviledges that come with that title,' bullshit. You never call unless you want something from me. And even then, it always involves awkward social encounters with your uber crush because you _insist_ on dragging me out of the house." I took a calming breath before continuing. "So what do you want?"

There was a brief moment of silence on the other end of the line before I heard Kankri sigh. I had called him out on his bullshit and he knew it. He then said, "I wanted to take some time to come out there and visit you. I have today and tomorrow off." I looked at Sollux, knowing that he could hear what was being said over the phone.

Sollux whispered, "You th'hould let him, KK. Th'inth'e you had the nightmare again, it might do you th'ome good."

"Pardon?" Kankri exclaimed through the phone. Sollux and I both cursed. My brother had heard him. Fffff-… "Karkat, you had the nightmare again and you didn't say anything about it?!"

Shooting my housemate an agitated glare, I answered, "Yes, you bulge shaper, I did. I wasn't going to bring it up because I fucking hate it when you start to baby me. I'm not thirteen anymore, okay?"

"No, you're twenty three years old," Kankri acknowledged, "but you are still my litle brother. It's been ten years, Karkat. That event obviously has triggered you to the point of post traumatic stress disorder!"

My eye twitched. "I'm not some war veteran, Kankri," I ground out. I forced myself to take a deep breath. "You want to come over? Fine. But you are bringing food. Got it? And we are not going out anywhere. I'm not wearing pants, and I'm not going up the stairs to grab a pair just to out. I'm too comfortable, damn it." After that, we talked for a few more minutes. I hung up before too long and sighed heavily, sprawling myself out along my blond housemate. Red eyes closed, I grumbled out, "We have three hours. What do you want in terms of food?"

"You were th'eriou'th about that?" Sollux asked me with some amusement. I felt his fingers go through my hair and a soft trill of a purr escaped me. "What reth'taurant?"

"Burger King."

"A Whopper with a large onion rings and a large Mountain Dew or Mello Yellow."

Nodding some, I cracked open my eyes and lifted my phone above my face, texting out the order to my brother.

KARKAT: SOLLUX WANTS A WHOPPER, LARGE ONION RINGS, AND EITHER A MOUNTAIN DEW OR MELLO YELLOW, WHICH EVER BURGER KING HAS.

Kankri: And what a69ut y9u?

KARKAT: TWO TEN PIECE CHICKEN NUGGETS. EACH ONE IS LESS THAN TWO BUCKS. NO SAUCE. LARGE FRIES… AND ARE YOU GOING TO GO IN AND ORDER OR GO THROUGH THE DRIVE THRU?

Kankri: I plan 9n g9ing thr9ugh the drive thru. Why?

KARKAT: I WAS WANTING A SUICIDE DRINK, BUT SINCE YOU'RE GOING THROUGH THE DRIVE THRU, I WANT A COKE.

Kankri: I d9n't mind g9ing in, y9u kn9w. I've 6een meaning t9 try a 'suicide' drink, as y9u call it.

KARKAT: FOUR SECONDS COKE, FOUR SECONDS SPRITE, FOUR SECONDS DR. PEPPER, THEN ONE SECOND TO EACH UNTIL THE CUP IS FULL. THANKS.

Kankri: N9 pr96lem. I'll make tw9 9f them, 9ne f9r y9u and 9ne f9r me.

I looked at the messages once more and nodded some to myself. I felt content with the choices made in terms of food and drink, so I put my phone away and closed my eyes again, relaxing in Sollux's lap. "Food has been ordered… Should we set up some board games to play?"

"What do you have in mind?"


End file.
